Fifth Circuit Last To Uphold OSHA's Multi-Employer Worksite Doctrine

Seyfarth Synopsis: We had blogged previously that OSHA appealed an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruling that severely limited OSHA's Multi-Employer Worksite Doctrine and citation of a "controlling employer" general contractor. Acosta v. Hensel Phelps Constr. Co., No. 17-60543 (5th Cir. August 4, 2017). The Fifth Circuit has now reversed the ALJ, and upheld OSHA's Multi-Employer Worksite Doctrine.

In dramatic language, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (governing federal law in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana) announced, that "thirty-seven years ago, this court, in a tort case, announced that 'OSHA regulations protect only an employer's own employees'." Melerine v. Avondale Shipyards, Inc., 659 F.2d 706, 711 (5th Cir. 1981). That decision had endured despite the seismic shift brought about by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), and of broader employer liability under the Act. Acosta v Hensel Phelps Construction, No 17-60543 (5th Cir November 26, 2018). OSHA's Multi-Employer...